Filipino Cookies!

Ah, the season for sweetened fat and flour has arrived! Yes, that's right! The end of the year rush to bake and devour delectable indulgences called Christmas cookies is a must! This year, we received something unusual. Within the typical white bakery shop box were individually wrapped shapes in a spectrum chosen from the nightmare of color blind person. So what were they? Something intriguing from Christine's Bake Shop in Bergenfield, NJ. They certainly look like fun. They certainly smell like potential fun. If it smells buttery, how can you go wrong? Yet, I still had no idea what was in store for my tastebuds. Here's a sample of some of the box contents:


Let's eat the white wrapper one first! On the inside, it's a slightly yellow block that doesn't taste like what it smells. It's almost like eating those chewy White Rabbit candies except with a bit of salt. I can only presume they used salted butter? Texture-wise, it's like a dry paste...not powdery nor hard as it's semi-soft...almost like paste but not so wet. It has a buttery-milky and white rabbit candy flavor. Very interesting. It also appears to have a white powdery substance all over. Flour? Nope! Sugar! Just a hint of sugary sweetness as you pop it in your mouth. I'd love to get my hands on the ingredients list. Does anyone know what i'm eating?


On to the next item! Actually, it's the next two items. Not surprisingly, these two only differ in their wrapper's color. These "tartlets" had a buttery crust while the filling was surprisingly chewy with a taste of fruit...what sort of fruit, I can not put my finger on it. It has a foreign flavor in that it reminds me of a tropical fruit, but not the fragrant type such as mangoes or passionfruit. Rather, I want to say tamarind as it is in that class of tropical fruits. It would also lend that slightly chewy texture. Overall, it's an interesting cookie. Thus far, I like that these cookies are not too sweet.




This next item appears to be just like the above except with a "whipped" topping. Again, I was pleasantly surprised though the crust appears to be the same. This one was even more chewy and more of that fruity flavor, thus similar yet different. As these flavors are quite foreign to me, I'm finding it most difficult to describe these flavors. The topping was a meringue-like concoction as it was light and airy with a bit of sweetness.


After having such interesting flavors, the next one was mundane in comparison. The butter theme continued though. I would describe this round cookie to be an extravagent butter cookie. It crumbled easily upon nibbling, and felt dense in the mouth as it took on saliva. The buttery flavor that these cookies share was quite pronounced in this one. Most likely due to the lack of other flavors to interfere. This would make a delightful cookie for tea time.


And finally, the last cookie! Also a round one but in a red wrapper. What better way to end this entry than with Christmas colors. ;) So, is it the same as the green wrappered one? Not quite, but almost. It's got the same buttery cookie base but the little black speckles throughout adds a slightly different flavor (but not texture). I'm going to guess it's based on black sesame seeds. It's not actual ground sesame seeds as I tried to dissect it but more like the same buttery cookie base made with sesame seeds and then mixed into the regular cookie base to create this speckle effect. Very interesting! Overall, these were an enjoyable snack that goes well with tea. Yum!